The field of this invention is movable chairs, and in particular movable chairs for individuals who need to avoid standing for large periods of time in situations like waiting on line.
A range of devices are available to adults whose mobility is impaired, whether because of age, injury, illness etc. These devices are suitable for individuals having varying degrees of coordination, strength and endurance. The simplest devices are canes, providing a single additional point of support. Some canes use multiple tips for increased stability. The rehabilitative crutch can be grouped together with the canes. Finally, the cane is expanded into an adult walker, which surrounds the user by a light weight frame. The frame is lifter off the ground and moved forward by the user.
To eliminate the need for lifting a walker frame off the ground wheels are added. A two-wheeled version has wheels on the front pair of legs and feet on the back pair and is moved forward by tilting the walker forward. For additional mobility all four legs can have wheels, but now brakes are needed.
Walkers and canes serve a user with sufficient leg strength to stand erect, providing extra stability or transferring weight off a weak leg. Wheelchairs are for users who have essentially no usable leg strength. The wheelchair is a rolling seat designed for individuals unable to stand and is moved by gripping circumferential hand grips inside the rims of large rear wheels or by an attendant standing behind the wheelchair and grasping handles for that purpose. Wheelchairs are not the device of choice for individuals who merely cannot stand for long periods of time because they may not want to look very sick.
Individuals who have sufficient strength to walk with the aid of a supporting device may still be incapable of standing for long periods of time. One solution is the cane-seat, a small stool attached to a walking cane. The rigid four-footed walker may also be equipped with a seat. A more recent species of mobility aid is known as a xe2x80x9crollatorxe2x80x9d. It has four legs, four wheels, a seat, brakes, and sometimes a basket. The rollator may be used as a rolling walker, and also serves as a portable seat. The user of a rollator may propel himself while seated by applying his feet to the floor, similar to what a person seated on an office chair does when he wants to move across the room.
The present invention including a folding seat, four wheels and an extensible safety handle on either side of the seat, making it better adapted than the rollator for seated pedal propulsion. Other features, such as handle bars and a one-piece foot rest make the chair of the present invention better suited for being pushed by an attendant than a rollator. The chair of the present invention can also function as a rolling walker, where the user walks forward with the chair as a support, something a wheelchair cannot do.
A visually appealing rollable, collapsible chair comprising a cushioned seat, stability handles projecting outwardly from opposite sides of the seat and being foldable under the seat, wheeled front and rear legs, a seat back including a continuous upside down u-shaped rod and a seat back cushion, a pair of handle bars for pushing the occupant while seated, a substantially rectangular leg rest spanning the width of the chair and supported by a fifth wheel, a cane holder, a net and a removable arm rest assembly comprising a substantially flat arm rest having a clip on a bottom thereof, an L-shaped bar made of a short side, a long side and a vertical side perpendicular to the short side, the bottom of the arm rest clipping and resting on the long side of the L-shaped bar, the arm rest including a larger portion that is foldable upwardly for drawing.
The following important objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(1) to provide a chair that elderly, injured or infirm can sit on that does not look like a wheelchair;
(2) to provide a mobility aid that combines the functions of a walker, a rollator and a wheelchair while maintaining light weight and foldability;
(3) to provide a chair as described in objective (2) that also holds and makes available to the seated occupant other important features like a cane and either an arm rest or an umbrella.
(4) to provide an aesthetically appealing chair that can be used while waiting on line at an airport, theme parks and other public place;
(5) to provide a foldable chair that can be stored and either wheeled around or carried around for whenever needed thus allowing a resident of a nursing home to park it;
(6) to provide a chair that can be moved forward by the simple motion of the legs of a seated occupant;
(7) to provide a chair that has a leg rest that permits the occupant""s legs to rest in a manner that does not interfere with forward motion when the occupant is being pushed;
(8) to provide a chair that has a stable leg rest as a result of a fifth wheel attached to the leg rest;
(9) to provide a movable chair with lockable front wheels;
(10) to provide a versatile chair that offers an elderly or other person mobility while waiting on a line and that includes a cane holder;
(11) to provide such a movable chair that has an arm rest assembly so that the seated occupant can read or do productive work while waiting;
(12) to provide a chair with an arm rest assembly including an arm rest whose larger portion can be lifted to an xe2x80x9cupxe2x80x9d position for resting a board or other work material against; and
(13) to provide a chair with a guide that can alternately receive either an arm rest assembly or an umbrella suitable for outdoor use;
(14) to provide a movable chair that includes stability handles projecting outwardly from opposite sides of the seat to prevent the seated occupant from slipping off when moving forward using one""s legs, the handles being foldable under the seat when not needed or when the chair is stored;
(15) to provide a movable chair that moves forward or backward just with the power of the seated occupant that can be used for gardening, waiting on line and any other activity;
(16) to provide a movable chair that allows someone to sit and still be able to move around without looking like a sick person since the chair does not look like a wheelchair; and
(17) to provide a movable chair that can is designed for convenient assistance by a third party such as a attendant.